Weight Watchers is getting slammed after offering a free membership promotion for teenagers. Project Heal's Kristina Saffran joins Cheddar to discuss the effects early dieting can have on young people's health and wellness. Project HEAL is the leading non-profit for eating disorder prevention, recovery, and treatment financing.
Saffran says Weight Watchers is playing into a culture that emphasizes an association between being thin and being healthy. She says evidence shows that dieting doesn't work and that weight is a bad stand-in for health. She also speaks to her own experience struggling with eating disorders.
Project HEAL's #DoneWithDieting campaign allows people to speak their truth about the dangers of dieting. Saffran reveals the ways in which parents and teachers can instill healthy values in young children without relying on dieting services.
